The present invention relates to a protective helmet for sporting activities such as hockey and more particularly, to a protective helmet having a novel adjustable internal padding for use by hockey players.
Protective helmets comprising adjustability features are well known. In this regard, it is known to provide an adjustable helmet having two shell portions held together by screws. The loosening and tightening of the screws allow for adjustment of the helmet size. In use, the two shell portions are fixedly held together by fasteners such as screws. The shells are thus adapted to move relative to one another when the fasteners are loosened. When the desired size is obtained, the fasteners are tightened and the two shell portions are locked in place. The two shell portions usually have overlapping surfaces to enable the shell portions to be moved relative to one another while not leaving any gap between the two shell portions. A protective helmet""s main task is to spread the force of impact to as wide a surface as possible in order to absorb impact and prevent injuries to the cranium.
Conventional protective helmets have one or more inner pads secured by fasteners to the inner surfaces of the shell portions and are generally adapted to conform to the shape of a wearer""s head. Shock-absorbing padding is positioned inside the helmet shell to cushion the wearer""s head. For practical reasons, there are usually two sections of padding: One section of padding being attached to each shell portion of the protective helmet. This arrangement simplifies the assembly of padding and shell portions and also facilitates assembly of the components.
One drawback of this known configuration is that a gap is created between the two sections of padding, which coincides with the overlapping surfaces of the shell portions. More particularly, one of the problems associated with such a configuration arises when the protective helmet is adjusted to its largest head size. Since for adjustability purposes, the sections of padding must be designed to fit within the helmet shell when the latter is adjusted to its smallest head size without having overlapping padding material which would make the protective helmet uncomfortable, a gap between the two sections of padding may arise when the helmet is adjusted to its largest possible head size and this may provide a zone of discomfort for the wearer. Bauer Inc. has introduced a protective helmet with self-adjusting padding which is fully disclosed in PCT patent application, CA97/00905, published Jun. 4, 1998 under international publication number WO98/23174. The helmet disclosed provides for three sections of padding of which a central section is slidably connected to the two adjacent sections without being fastened to the outer helmet shell. When the size of the helmet is adjusted, the central section remains substantially in the center portion of the helmet, effectively splitting the normal resulting gap into two distinct zones on either sides of the central section. However, since the central section is loose, it may end up resting further to the rear or to the front of the helmet, leaving a larger gap on one side than the other.
Thus there is a need for an improved adjustable protective helmet which alleviates some of these shortcomings and provides optimum comfort and good protection through the full range of adjustment.
It is therefore an object of the invention to provide an adjustable protective helmet having an improved shock absorbing padding assembly, which overcomes some of the disadvantages of the prior art.
It is another object of the invention to provide an adjustable protective helmet having an improved shock absorbing padding assembly, which is adapted to minimize the gaps between padding sections.
As embodied and broadly described herein, the invention provides an adjustable protective helmet for sporting activities comprising a helmet shell circumscribing the wearer""s head being made of a molded front shell component and of a molded rear shell component. The front and rear shell components have respective cooperating overlapping segments for connecting them together to form said helmet shell. The front and rear shell components are movable relative to one another in the overlapping segments to provide size adjustability of the protective helmet. The protective helmet includes as a separate component a shock absorbing pad assembly retained inside the helmet shell; the pad assembly comprising: at least two juxtaposed padding sections; one of the at least two padding sections comprising an opening; the other of the at least two padding sections comprising an extension loosely fitting within the opening and shaped to allow relative longitudinal motion between the at least two juxtaposed padding sections. The at least two juxtaposed padding sections comprises motion-limiting means to limit the relative longitudinal motion and control the position of the extension relative to the opening.
Advantageously, the motion-limiting means comprises abutment of a portion of the extension with a portion of the opening. The extension comprises a wider end portion and the opening comprises a constriction which confines the wider end portion to the opening.
In a preferred embodiment, one of the at least two padding sections is a front padding section fixedly retained against displacement relative to the front shell component; and the front padding section comprises the opening. Furthermore, the extension also comprises a tongue protruding from at least one end of the extension, the tongue having a length sufficient to overlap a portion of an adjacent padding section.
As embodied and broadly described herein, the invention also provides an adjustable protective helmet for sporting activities comprising a helmet shell circumscribing the wearer""s head, the helmet shell made of a molded front shell component and a molded rear shell component. Each shell component having respective cooperating overlapping segments for connecting together the front and rear shell components to form the helmet shell. The shell components are movable relative to one another in the overlapping segments to provide size adjustability of the protective helmet. The protective helmet includes a shock absorbing pad assembly inside the helmet shell; the pad assembly comprising a front padding section, a rear padding section and an central padding section positioned between the front and rear padding sections. The front padding section comprises an opening in an upper portion of the front padding section; the central padding section comprising an extension loosely fitting within the opening and shaped to allow relative longitudinal motion between the front and central padding sections. The front and central padding sections comprise motion-limiting means to limit the relative longitudinal motion and control the position of the central padding section relative to the front and rear padding sections.
Advantageously, the motion-limiting means comprises abutment of a portion of the extension with a portion of the opening. The extension comprises a wider end portion and the opening comprises a constriction, which confines the wider end portion to the opening.
In a preferred embodiment, the central padding section also comprises a tongue protruding from at least one end of the extension, the tongue having a length sufficient to overlap a portion of an adjacent padding section.
Other objects and features of the invention will become apparent by reference to the following description and the drawings.